1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electronic apparatus and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly relates to apparatus for dissipating operating heat from electronic components such as computer processors.
2. Description of Related Art
As personal computers continue to be provided with greater operating power and higher clock speeds, it becomes more critical to provide for adequate operating heat dissipation from various of their high operating heat-generating components such as their processors. A common technique for dissipating processor heat is to forcibly place a finned metal heat sink structure in thermal contact with the die portion of the processor, to receive operating heat therefrom, and then create a forced flow of cooling air across the heat sink structure to remove received processor operating heat therefrom.
As conventionally carried out, the placement of the heat sink against the processor die typically requires the use of a tool. For example, a screwdriver is needed when the heat sink is threadingly connected to a support structure upon which the processor is mounted. Alternatively, specially designed barbed plastic pins have been used to hold the heat sink in forcible contact with the processor die. This securement technique requires the use of a special tool to force the plastic pins into aligned openings in the heat sink and the underlying processor support structure.
This currently required use of tools to operatively connect a heat sink to its associated computer processor is oftentimes a tedious, inconvenient task, and undesirably adds to the overall time and cost of fabricating a personal computer. Moreover, if the heat sink-to-processor connection operation is not carefully carried out, uneven and/or excessive contact forces may be imposed on the processor die by the overlying heat sink structure. If this occurs, the die may be damaged or the necessary operating heat transfer from the processor die to the heat sink may be undesirably lessened.
As can readily be seen from the foregoing, a need exists for improved apparatus for operatively connecting a heat sink structure to a heat generating electronic component such as a computer processor. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.